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May 09, 2009

Nitpicks: Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed

As a biologist, I have to take issue with three things in Mo Willems’ new picture book Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed.

(1) Naked mole rats are not “a little bit rat” and “a little bit mole.” They are members of the Bathyergidae, a family of burrowing rodents found only in Africa. It’s true that rats are rodents, but they’re in a different family (the Muridae). Moles, on the other hand, are part of an entirely different order of mammals: the Insectivora. Naked mole-rats are more closely related to porcupines and chinchillas than they are to rats.

(2) There is no wise and benevolent Grand-pah Mole-Rat making the decisions in a naked mole-rat colony. Naked mole-rats are eusocial: they live in large colonies led by one large breeding female – the queen. The queen keeps a few males around to mate with but suppresses reproduction in the other members of the colony. Most of the colony – workers, both male and female – guard the colony, collect food, and care for the queen and her pups.